Precious metals are inflation-resistant assets that act as a haven when stocks and real estate go down. They have more durability during geopolitical tensions and can help with portfolio diversification. These assets can even lead to a smoother retirement. While many investors use IRAs to buy and accumulate stocks, American Hartford Gold is one of the companies that offer IRAs for precious metals.
What is American Hartford Gold?
American Hartford Gold is a company that lets investors trade gold and silver. The firm was founded in 2015 and has grown rapidly ever since under the leadership of Sanford Mann, the Chief Executive Officer. It was recently labeled as the $1 Gold Company on the Inc 5000, a list of America’s fastest-growing private companies. American Hartford Gold has multiple retirement accounts available for people who want to save on taxes when investing in precious metals. The company keeps its clients informed on important market trends and provides live precious metals charts. American Hartford Gold has an excellent 4.9 rating on Trustpilot based on over 1,100 reviews and also offers the physical delivery of precious metals.
How Does American Hartford Gold Work?
American Hartford Gold offers retirement plans and lets people buy and sell physical precious metals. You can have the precious metals shipped to you or have American Hartford Gold store the precious metals on your behalf. Their retirement accounts tend to have higher fees than IRAs with stocks because of the costs of storing gold.
Clients receive updates on the latest precious metals trends and other insights. American Hartford Gold believes informing their clients on everything that is happening around precious metals presents a win-win dynamic of better decisions by clients and further growth for the company. Clients receive continuous support from an account representative.
American Hartford provides straightforward directions on its website for people who want to buy precious metals or create an IRA. You will have to fill out a form and wait for your application to get approved before opening a precious metals IRA. It doesn’t take as much time to buy precious metals and let the company know where to send them.
Products and Services Offered by American Hartford Gold
Buy Gold and Silver
The company’s websites have tabs that let you buy gold and silver. You can see their complete list of products and give customer support a call to ask about pricing. Clients can filter results based on IRA-approved gold and silver assets.
Gold IRAs
Gold IRAs let you store cash, convert it into gold, and receive tax advantages. American Hartford Gold gives you several options, such as a Roth, traditional, SEP, or Simple account. Each of these accounts has strengths and weaknesses, along with different tax perks. It’s good to have these many options for a gold IRA, or any retirement account for that matter. Gold IRAs are self-directed.
American Hartford Gold Cost and Fees
You will have to call customer support to learn how much precious metals cost, but the costs and fees for IRAs are more laid out. The precious metals IRA has an annual fee of $75 if you have less than $100,000 worth of assets. If you have more than $100,000 worth of assets in your precious metals IRA, you will have to pay an annual fee of $125. There is also a $100/yr storage fee.
American Hartford Gold waives its fees for the first year of your IRA, and it also offers free shipping if you want to buy precious metals.
The Pros and Cons of American Hartford Gold
Wondering if American Hartford Gold makes sense for your retirement plan? Here are the pros and cons to consider before getting started.
Pros
- Diversify your portfolio: Gold and other precious metals are useful hedges against inflation that can perform well during economic uncertainty. These assets can prop up your portfolio when other investments are underperforming.
- Capitalize on tax savings: American Hartford Gold offers multiple retirement plans that let you save on taxes. You can use pre-tax dollars and save on your upfront bill with a traditional retirement account or protect your distributions and capital gains with a Roth retirement account.
- Choose from gold or silver: Some precious metals IRAs only let you buy gold, but American Hartford Gold lets you add multiple types of gold and silver to your retirement account.
- Have storage done for you or buy precious metals: You can decide whether you want to store precious metals or have American Hartford Gold store them for you.
- IRA fees get waived during the first year: You can use that opportunity to increase your contributions or save the extra money. Most IRAs start charging fees right away.
Cons
- Annual fee based on your portfolio’s size: You will have to pay $75 or $125 each year, depending on your portfolio’s size.
- Additional storage fee: Since precious metals require storage, you will have to contend with an additional storage fee on top of other expenses. Retirement accounts that focus on stocks do not have storage fees. American Hartford Gold’s $100/yr storage fee is reasonable compared to other precious metals IRAs.
- You have to call for pricing: Want to buy gold or silver from American Hartford Gold? You can get precious metals delivered to your door, but you have to call them about pricing first. It adds an extra barrier of entry, but you can get the prices for multiple types of gold and silver from the same call.
What Makes American Hartford Gold Different?
American Hartford Gold is distinct from similar providers because it offers self-directed IRAs for precious metals. While most gold IRAs stick with traditional accounts, you can choose to create a traditional or Roth IRA. This flexibility gives you more control over which tax advantages you receive when contributing to your retirement account. It’s also easy to roll over an existing account to an American Hartford Gold retirement plan.
The company also lets you buy precious metals if you want to store them yourself. While gold IRA custodians store precious metals for you, if you buy them with your retirement account, you can buy precious metals outside of your IRA. Few companies sell precious metals and also offer retirement accounts.
Who Is American Hartford Gold Best Recommended For?
American Hartford Gold is recommended for people who want to invest in gold and silver in a retirement account. These individuals understand the benefits of buying precious metals and want to hold onto these assets over the long term.
It’s not a good idea to put every dollar you have into precious metals. Investors need to have balanced portfolios, and a precious metals IRA can help. Some people who use gold IRAs to store assets split their contributions among self-directed gold IRAs and conventional IRAs that hold stocks and mutual funds. American Hartford Gold gives investors a viable option if they want a healthy balance between precious metals and other investments.
Is American Hartford Gold Right for You?
Before determining if American Hartford Gold is right for you, it’s important to consider how you feel about gold and silver. Do you believe these investments make sense for your portfolio and can move you closer to your retirement goals? That is an important question to answer before creating an IRA with any custodian offering access to precious metals.
The inflation-resistant nature of precious metals and the ability to diversify makes them attractive to some investors. If you fall into that category, the next step is determining if American Hartford Group is the right gold IRA for you. While other gold IRAs only offer gold, American Hartford Group also lets you buy silver. If you want gold and silver, this company can help.
Some investors also want to store gold and silver themselves instead of relying on a custodian. While you have to let the custodian manage precious metals storage for any IRA, you can directly buy precious metals on American Hartford Gold’s websites. These precious metals will be separate from your retirement account, but you can store them yourself and cover storage fees on your own. If you want precious metals, like what American Hartford Gold offers, and don’t mind the storage fee, it may be the right choice for your finances.
How to Get Started with American Hartford Gold
American Hartford Gold has a straightforward website that outlines how to get started with its offerings. You can look at the available gold and silver coins and call customer support to learn about the prices. You will have to complete an intake form to open or rollover a gold IRA with the company. If you are rolling over a retirement account, you can either have all of the funds put into your American Hartford Gold retirement account or a partial amount. This flexibility lets you keep multiple retirement accounts open and diversify your holdings across stocks and mutual funds in your current retirement account and buy precious metals with your American Hartford Gold retirement account.
